Karnataka: Judgment copy delay its appellants

BANGALORE: Appellants have been unable to approach higher courts due to delay by the Karnataka High Court in issuing judgment copies. Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia had recently directed all High Courts and lower courts to issue judgment copies to petitioners and respondents quickly.Advocates at the Karnataka High Court complain that judgment copies are delayed by three to six months. They say that during the tenure of Chief Justice J S Khehar, orders were being updated daily on his orders. But now, with the exception of the order copy in B S Yeddyurappa’s case, which was uploaded on the court’s website within an hour, most orders are being delayed.When Express contacted High Court Registrar General P Krishna Bhat, he directed us to the systems administrator, who said that depending on the public interest and direction of the Chief Justice, order copies are uploaded promptly. “Since Yeddyurappa’s case generated a lot of public interest, we uploaded it within an hour,” he said.Advocate G R Mohan said that if pronouncement of the judgment is oral, then the copy is uploaded quickly but if it is a dictation in the open court hall, it can take up to six months to sign the judgment copy though it shouldn’t take more than a week.